This lady was remarkable for her beauty and her fascinations; and few
came within the circle over which she presided who did not acknowledge
her superior power. Her wit, which kept the House of Commons, during
her examination, in a continued state of merriment, was piquant and
saucy. Her answers on that occasion have been so often brought before
the public, that I need not repeat them; but, in private life, her quick
repartee, and her brilliant sallies, rendered her a lively, though not
always an agreeable companion. As for prudence, she had none; her dearest
friend, if she had any, was just as likely to be made the object of
her ridicule as the most obnoxious person of her acquaintance.

Her narrative of her first introduction to the Duke of York has often
been repeated; but, as all her stories were considered apocryphal, it
is difficult to arrive at a real history of her career. Certain however,
is it that, about the age of sixteen, she was residing at Blackheath
- a sweet, pretty, lively girl - when, in her daily walk across the
heath, she was passed, on two or three occasions, by a handsome, well-dressed
cavalier, who, finding that she recognised his salute, dismounted; pleased
with her manner and wit, he begged to be allowed to introduce a friend.
Accordingly, on her consenting, a person to whom the cavalier appeared
to pay every sort of deference was presented to her, and the acquaintance
ripened into something more than friendship. Not the slightest idea
had the young lady of the position in society of her lover, until she
accompanied him, on his invitation, to the theatre, where she occupied
a private box, when she was surprised at the ceremony with which she
was treated, and at observing that every eye and every lorgnette in
the house were directed towards her in the course of the evening. She
accepted this as a tribute to her beauty. Finding that she could go
again to the theatre when she pleased, and occupy the same box, she
availed herself of this opportunity with a female friend, and was not